Quarantine has a lot of folks concerned about their physical appearance and what they are eating — and we get it. It’s incredibly hard to not hyper-focus on things that shouldn’t matter when we’re all stuck inside our homes trying to avoid catching a potentially deadly virus.
The following technology news bits reference app updates that concern peoples’ health and wellness, but are slightly less focused on their physical appearance. Because if we’re going to be spending more time on our phones, we may as well be interacting with technology that doesn’t make us feel bad about ourselves.
Feast Doesn’t Want You to Count Calories to Lose Weight
Although Feast, a new food-logging app, does aim to help users lose weight, its makers don’t think that calorie counting will help. Instead, Feast asks users to log their food by taking photos of everything they eat.
Engadget reports that the app is simple to use and similar to Instagram, but with differences. First, Feast is only for photos of food. The app’s purpose is to log meals via photo. From there, a user can add a caption or hashtag to the image and publicly post the picture. However, Engadget adds that users do have the option to make their posts private.
Engadget explains that a user’s photos “are organized by day,” so a user can view their “24-hour consumption at a glance.” The app also has Apple Health integration, which adds in a user’s step-count. Users also have the option to note their mood, and “tag friends and locations to each photo.” Engadget adds that Feast uses artificial intelligence to help identify whatever hashtags are used in a post to “attempt to guess the foods… in the pictures.”
Feast founder Jackie Kim created the app after becoming frustrated with other calorie-tracking apps. “I hated how the food trackers reduced foods to numbers where the goal is to eat as little as possible,” Kim said. “I wanted to find a way where I wouldn’t have to completely stop eating what I love, while still trying to lose weight.”
Read more about the app, how food-logging can help people lose weight, and what the author of the Engadget article thought of the app here.
Samsung “Cuts” Calorie (and Weight) Tracking, too
Engadget recently reported that Samsung removed a few tracking capabilities from its mobile and wearable apps. The features getting cut are weight, calorie (food intake), and caffeine tracking.
Reports about why Samsung is making the change are limited, and so far, the company hasn’t explained why they made the change. The change will come this month, first in Germany, then worldwide.
An App May Help You Track Your Mental Health
An app called PROSIT could help detect mental health issues such as anxiety and depression based on how a person uses their phone. The app tracks things like “exercise, sleep, call frequency, message histories and music tastes,” and monitors “subtle data,” such as a person’s “typing speed and force.”
Engadget adds that “users are also asked to record a 90-second audio clip describing the most exciting part of their week and to self-report their feelings on a five-point scale.”
The scientists behind the app are mindful of its potential privacy issues. Before a person begins to use the app, they have to sign a consent form; the person’s data also is stored in a secure location.
For more on the app, click here.
What This Means for You
Taking your health and wellness into your hands is easier than ever, thanks to app technology. Engaging with smart apps in a measured and informed way could help improve your quality of life. However, as always, read the fine print to make sure your data stays private.
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Abbie Stutzer is a queer, non-binary writer living in Kansas City, MO. You can find them doing witchy stuff at home with their numerous pets or at the local animal shelter saving lives. Contact Stutzer via abbie@ynotcam.com.
Background header image via Pexels here.
